I slept on NEO and I shouldn't have

I'm still going through it, but I already love it.

I bought Neo close to when it came out, but it languished in my backlog for a long time. I wasn't really sure what to expect after the extra chapter they added to the first game, and I wasn't wowed in the first hour when I opened it the first time, so I just dropped it. That was a mistake.

It's not perfect, but man, it's way better than I thought it would be. After Solo Remix, I wasn't sure how they would handle the combat, but once you get into it and get more pins, it really does flesh out. The social web is genius, the battles just work, and little (not nothing, but little) was lost from the first game.

And the writing? A bit fanservicy with the returning characters, but I fine myself actually liking Rindo just as much as I liked Neku. Not proud of it, but I saw a lot of myself in the Week 1 versions of both characters. They're both unlikeable in two different ways that are not very easy to write correctly, but they nailed it both times. Every time I ask "wait, why did he do that", I have to check myself because in most cases, I would have done that.

The way Shibuya comes alive in 3D also took some balls. They stylized it so closely to the first game that it actually feels like TWEWY in 3D. It blows my mind. Curving buildings, new scanner mini games, same bright/metro colors, new locations, and now with more side quests? I like it. I like it a lot.

The voice acting... okay, that could use some work, but otherwise? This is fantastic. Why doesn't this get more praise? I swear I barely heard much talk about this compared to the first game back when it was enjoying diamond-in-the-rough status. Making a jump from full 2D to full 3D doesn't just happen.